I didn’t drive on right hand side of the road (the complete opposite of our Antipodean driving) until I’d been driving for 30 years. Apprehensive, I’d managed to avoid it till then but on this occasion I had an extended stay in the US and my lovely friend and host, with a view to offering me her car, simply asked me “You can drive, right”? So I gulped (imperceptibly) and answered with a simple “Yes”.

She tossed me the keys to her big ol’ 4×4 and I went for it.

In my recent Eastern Europe adventures I picked up a rental car for a couple of weeks to do some driving through Austria, Poland, Czech and Hungary. Left hand drive, of course, and a manual transmission to boot (which was a bit of a surprise and) to which, I’m relieved to say I adjusted reasonably well (in that I only stalled the car once).

“You’re so brave” was a common response when I told people what I was up to.

Or, “are you crazy?”

I suspect the truth is somewhere in between.

In undertaking such a change of driving context it never occurred to me that I would learn some profound lessons in the process.

These are some of the observations I made during this experience.

On Risk

The increased adrenaline of doing something with moderately elevated risk makes you ever so much more careful about what you’re doing.

If you’re driving in such unfamiliar context you’re going to be way more careful about making sure you’re on the correct side of the road. You’re going to be extra careful about ensuring people know what you’re about to do and where you’re about to go. You’re going to be significantly more observant of what the people around you are doing. You’re also going to be way less likely to ‘drive on autopilot’, because your autopilot would put you and the people about you in the wrong place, going the wrong way, and at much greater risk.

Note: The same is true in other contexts… take some risks, see what happens, ride the adrenaline into new and unexpected places and let the risk make you careful… and yet so, so alive.

On Making Mistakes

If you make a mistake you really have to humbly own it. It helps if you’re easily identified as an outsider… (my rental car had Austrian plates) this helps people steer a little more carefully around you and in most cases makes it more likely they’ll be forgiving. So driving with L(earner) plates, putting your hand up to say ‘I was in the wrong, sorry!’ is a relief. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be humble enough to say that you’ve blown it.

I have this on good authority as even though I’m familiar with driving with trams in Melbourne, I found myself in Kraków surrounded by perturbed tram passengers climbing off their conveyance and swarming around me to get back to the pedestrian side of the road. I stayed there, let them go past, nodded and smiled all the while blushing. They shook their head ‘stupid tourist’ and then the emptied tram, the passengers, and I all moved on. No harm done (and thankfully no ticket).

Note: Don’t be afraid to be in the wrong, wear the embarrassment when things don’t quite go according to plan and use those moments to learn what not to do next time.

On Comparing Yourself to Those Around You

When you’re feeling more confident, driving in the fast lane and you see someone screaming up behind you, pull into the slower lane and let them go past. Especially in places where the upper speed limit is 140kmph or more (a far cry from Australia’s 110kmph on the freeways). The thing is, you don’t gain anything by thwarting them. You’ll probably catch them up eventually, and with less stress. Let them go their own path, to their own destination. You’ll get to yours and with a lot less anxiety.

The thing is, you may be going different places along the same road, you may be going the same place but comparing your path and trajectory with someone else’s discounts the progress you’ve made.

Note: Drive your own road, don’t worry about anyone else’s.

Funnily enough, now that I’m home and driving back on Australian roads, back to my normal context I still have occasional moments when I can’t quite remember which is the right side to be on… I have to chant my driving mantra “passenger in the gutter, passenger in the gutter” (thanks Pam, I Am) to make sure I have my head and my car in the right place.

I’m not sure what the lesson is there…

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Given I’d been on the go, fairly solidly for 5 weeks, that last week seemed a long way away, and it started to feel as though the holiday wasn’t going to have much in it that was truly relaxing… so as I contemplated a week in Hungary I decided to base myself in Budapest and take it a bit easier.

What a great place in which to do it. I settled into an adorable apartment in Damjanic St which was within walking distance of City Park, Hero’s Square and actually the main part of town, if you didn’t mind walking everywhere. There’s so much to see there was no hardship in doing that. It was a joy.

I had a couple of days, one in which I was feeling under the weather and another when I actually got some work done so sight seeing was restricted to about 3 or 4 days in the week. The rest of the time was walks in the park, visits to the downstairs bakery and grocery where I could cook for myself for the week at ridiculously cheap prices and drinking Hungarian beer (not amazing) and eating goulash (totally amazing).

And it was a wonderful way to end an amazing trip. From here to a final night in Vienna where I went to hear Snarky Puppy an incredible Jazz band, a final night with Prisca in Frankfurt and dinner at Dauth Schneider with her brother where we drank Apfelwein (probably won’t do that again) and ate Frankfurter ‘Green Sauce’ (which I’d totally do again!) I caught the flight back to Melbourne via Bangkok – with some delays and a mad rush through Bangkok airport to get home! Quite the rush to end on…

Thanks to all those who I had the privilege to spend time with, to my wonderful hosts. I hope I get the return the favour in Melbourne sometime.

Esterházy torte – buttercream spiced with cognac or vanilla, sandwiched between four and five layers of almond meringue (macaroon) dough. The torte is iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with a characteristic chocolate striped pattern.

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Szimpla Kert – Ruin pub

Dohány Street Synagogue

Dohány Street Synagogue

Dohány Street Synagogue

Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park

Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park

Dohány Street Synagogue – Tile Detail

Street Mural, Dob St, I think

Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park

Local School Mural

Local School Mural

Slice of Life

Chain Bridge and Parliament taken from the Citadella

The Danube

Hungarian Parliament

St Stephens Basillica from Gellert Hill

St Stephens

Buda Castle from Gellert Hill

The Danube from Gellert Hill

Looking across at the Pest side fo the city

Looking up to the Statue of Liberty at the Citadel

Looking up to the Statue of Liberty at the Citadel

Looking up to the Statue of Liberty at the Citadel

Looking uip to the Statue of Liberty at the Citadel

Gellert Hill

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While I was at WordCamp Europe I had the happy opportunity to catch up with Kel, a friend I’d met at WordCamp Brisbane last year. Kel and her new husband Matt have recently moved back to Wroclaw in Poland (Matt’s hometown) and as I had time in my schedule I was a lucky recipient of an invitation to come explore Wrocław (which, you pronounce Vrotz-wahv, by the way) and it was too good an opportunity to miss.

I had 3 nights and two days there, and we spent the first evening watching the dancing fountain in the grounds of Centennial Hall, eating icecream and walking the local neighbourhood. We spend the 2nd day exploring castles in the nearby Owl Mountains and the last day exploring Wrocław itself.

I have to tell you, Poland is fantastic. I got to see 3 of its cities and would have loved to have spent more time there. The landscape, the architecture and the people are just wonderful and if you have the opportunity to visit it at any time, take it with both hands.

One of the most adorable features of Wrocław are the dwarf statues that are all over the city. I could have spent a couple of days searching them all out, but had to content myself with the ones we stumbled over as we went exploring. You can read their story here if you’re interested – but in short, they commemorate the Orange Alternative, a Polish anti communist movement and to date there are over 300 of these figurines throughout the city limits, and beyond.

Iglica – This structure was constructed by Polish Communists for an exhibition to celebrate the regaining control over the “Regained Territories” after Second World War.

Hala Ludova – Centennial Hall

Hala Ludova – Centennial Hall

Iglica – This structure was constructed by Polish Communists for an exhibition to celebrate the regaining control over the “Regained Territories” after Second World War.

Hala Ludova – Centennial Hall

Dwarves near the venue for the Odra Cup rowing race

Dwarves near the venue for the Odra Cup rowing race

Zwierzyniecki Bridge over the River Odra (or Oder)

River Odra (or Oder)

Walking up to Grodno Castle

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Grodno Castle (Zamek Grodno)

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Image of the Polish Hussars

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Książ Castle

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Katedra św. Jana Chrzciciela)

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Katedra św. Jana Chrzciciela)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

Armour of the Polish Hussars

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus)

Sand Dredging Gnome

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There’s no easy post about exploring Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. I took the opportunity to visit as I was driving from Kraków to Wrocław and it wasn’t too much of a detour to spend half a day soberly reflecting on this particularly dark aspect of human history.

I’m glad I went, it’s easy to lose the scale of the story from this distance (both geographically back on the other side of the world, and in time after all these years) and I think memorials like these are important so that we never lose sight of what evil humanity is capable of (though given today’s current state of affairs, it feels as though we’re losing that sight, regardless).

You can read a whole lot more about the museum at their website. Other than that I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

The entrance to Auschwitz I – The text reads – Arbeit Macht Frei – it translates as Work Makes you Free – which of course was an outright fabrication. There was no freedom here.

Our guide Marta who’s been doing this tour for 10 years, and feels the effects of it daily.

Auschwitz was a hub for prisoners from all over Europe. Political prisoners, gypsies, and of course Jews.

Empty cannisters that held Zyklon B the cyanide based pesticide that was used in the gas chambers at Auschwitz,

Belongings left behind by victims

Sleeping Quarters

Sleeping Quarters

Flogging post

The wall against which people were shot. Rebuilt/reproduced by former prisoners.

The gallows on which Rudolf Hös (Rudolf Hoess – commandant of the camp for 3.5 years) was hung from, built especially, next to the gas chamber, and within view of the house he lived in so long, he